Nail.



No. 660.967. Patentemoct. 3o. |900'.

J. amcaAuGHev.

- NAIL.

. l 4(Applicativi: lgd mr. 28, 1900.) (N0 Modal.)

i UNITED STATES A'rnNT OFFICE.

JEROME G. MCGAUGHEY, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO WILLIAM F. SHEIRY, OF SAME PLACE.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 660,967, dated October 3, 1900. Application iled March 28, 1900. Serial No. 10.526. [No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that LJEROME G McGAUeHEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented a new and useful Nail, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a novel nail of that class ordinarily designated as shoe-heel 1o nails; but before proceeding to adescription of its particular construction it maybe well to refer briefly to the considerations Which have led to origination of the device.

lt is frequently desirable to provide the i5 heels of shoes with a metallic wear-strip located adjacent to the edges of the heel or to a portion thereof in order to prevent unequal wear. This result has been obtained heretofore by the employment of a heel-plate prozo vided with prongs which are driven into the heel. Various forms of hob-nails have also been employed for the purpose, having their protruding heads constituting the Wear surface or surfaces. These devices are objec- Iionable for several reasons, but particularly because their shanks are ordinarily short and unstable and the heads are unsightly and project beyond the bottom surface of the heel in a manner to preclude the possibility 3o of their use except in connection with the coarsest footwear, besides which it is impossible to secure the practically continuous wearsurface by the juxtaposition of the usual hob-nails.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to produce a heel-nail which may be readily driven into the heel to secure the layers thereof andwhich when so located will form a practically continuous wear strip or surface 4o substantially conforming to the contour of the heel and comprehending a series of comparatively short Wear-sections, from each of which extends a right-angular wear-face, to form which the upper edge of the nail-shank is utilized.

To the accomplishment of this object the invention consists in the peculiar construction of nail to be hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and

5a embraced within the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a shoe-heel provided 'with a series of my nails. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of one of the nails on an enlarged scale. Fig. 3 isa 55 similar View looking from the opposite side of the nail. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the n ail. Fig. 5 is an edge View thereof, and Fig.

6 is a top plan view of the saine.

Referring to the numerals of reference in- 6o dicating corresponding parts and structural peculiarities in the severalviews, l indicates a shoe-heel built up, as usual, from a number of layers of leather 2, which latter are organized and rigidly retained by a series of nails 3, constructed in accordance with my in vention. Before calling especial attention to the particular arrangement of the nails I shall describe in detail their several peculiarities of construction, the utility underlying each 7o of which willbe developed as I proceed and will be evident from the succeeding explanation of the manner in which the nails are grouped.

Each nail 3 comprehends a flat. substan- 75 tially wedge-shaped metal shank 4, approximately rectangular in cross-section and defining a wear-face at its upper end, a knifeedge @at its lower end, and the divergentlyrelated edges 7 and 8, extending from the 8o knife-edge 6 of the wear-face 5. The shank thus formed constitu tes, in effect, a flat tapering spring designed to be driven into the heel, to facilitate which use the opposite side faces of the shank may be slightly beveled at their lower ends to accentuate the edge 6. At the upper end of this shank and flush with the top and one edge thereof are formed a pair of oppositely-extending lugs 9 and l0, which in effect constitute a head extending 9o approximately at right angles to the end face of the shank and to one side of its center. These lugs are formed with beveled side and edge faces 1l and l2 to facilitate their entrance into the surface of the heel when the nail is driven to its position therein.

By reference to the drawings it will be seen that the upper end of the nail-that is, the Wear-face formed by the flush surfaces of the shank and lugs or head--is practically T- roo shaped, and, further, that the general shape of the nail when viewed from one edge is also that of the letter T. I-Iaving discovered in what manner this nail is distinguished from ordinary constructions, I Will now proceed to describe the manner of its use in order that the utility of the various structural peculiarities may be apparent. Assuming that the heel is ready for the securing-nails, a marking-wheel is employed to make a number of properly-spaced impressions on the surface of the heel, in a line concentric With or parallel to the edge thereof. point 'so indicated I drive one of my nails, the result being the embedding of the shank, and subsequently the embedding of the heads, until the wear-surfaces of both the shank and heads are flush with the surface of the heel, the opposed end edges of the lugs upon adjacent nails contacting to form a practically continuous wear-strip flush with the surface of the heel and composed of a series of short sections--to wit, the head of each nail-from each of which sections eX- tends inwardly an angular continuation of the strip-to wit, the face 5 of each shankthese short angular contiuuations being in this manner arranged in series and each being practically parallel with the similar wearfaces adjacent to it. Obviously the heads or lugs may be slightly curved and their end faces may be angularly related when necessary in order to permit the formation of a curved weanstrip, as shown, without intervening spaces between the adjacent ends of the sections thereof.

From the foregoing it will be observed that I have produced a novel shoe-heel nail which may be readily embedded in the heel of the shoe for the dual purpose of organizing the heel members and constituting a wear-surface and the peculiar construction of which permits the utilization of the end faces of both the shank and head as wear-surfaces At each` and prevents twisting and consequent dislocation by the arrangement of the lateral headlugs to one side of the longitudinal center of the shank; but while the present embodiment of my invention appears at this time to be preferable I desire to reserve the right to effect such changes, modifications, and variations as may come properly within the scope of the protection prayed.

l. A nail comprising a flat wedge-shaped shank and oppositely-extending lugs adjacent to one longitudinal edge only of the shank, and flush with said edge and the up-A per endof the shank to form a nail havinga substantially T-shaped end face.

2. A nail comprising a dat tapering shank, and oppositely-extending lugs adjacent to one longitudinal edge only of The shank and flush with said edge and with the upper end of the shank to form a nail having a substantially T-shaped end face, the under faces of said lugs being oppositely beveled from the side faces of the shank.

3. A nail comprising a fiat metal shank approximately rectangular in cross-section and defining a wear-face at its upper end, and divergently-related longitudinal edges extending in an unbroken line from end to end of the shank, and a pair of oppositely-extending lugs located at the upper end of the shank and liush with the top and with one edge thereof to form with said shank a substantially T-shaped fiat end face, the side and edge faces of said lugs being beveled.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JEROME G. MCGAUGI'IEY.

Witnesses:-

CHAs. Lo'rz, JOHN J. SULLIVAN. 

